''Gazella atlantica'', the Atlantic gazelle, is an extinct species of

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...

that lived in

Northwest Africa The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

during the Late Pleistocene.

Taxonomy

The Atlantic gazelle was described in 1870 from late Quaternary cave deposits at Jebel Thaya in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. Fossils are relatively common across Algeria and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. The Atlantic gazelle is closely related to '' Gazella tingitana'', another extinct gazelle from the Late Pleistocene of North Africa.

Description

The Atlantic gazelle was a small species of antelope, estimated at around . It would have been roughly comparable in size to the

Speke's gazelle Speke's gazelle (''Gazella spekei'') is the smallest of the gazelle species. It is confined to the Horn of Africa, where it inhabits stony brush, grass steppes, and semi deserts. This species has been sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the Dor ...

, which is generally considered the smallest living gazelle.

Paleoecology

Fossils of the Atlantic gazelle have been found alongside those of

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-to ...

''(Connochaetes taurinus)'' and

hartebeest The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an African antelope. It is the only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two sometimes considered to be independ ...

''(Alcelaphus buselaphus)'' suggesting a habitat preference for open grasslands. In a published paper, anthropologist

Richard G. Klein Richard G. Klein (born April 11, 1941) is a Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Stanford University. He is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences. He earned his PhD at the University of Chicago in 1 ...

suggested that the Atlantic gazelle may have persisted into the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

as recently as 4,000 BP (along with '' Camelus thomasi'' and ''

Megaceroides ''Megaceroides algericus'' is an extinct species of deer known from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene of North Africa. It is one of only two species of deer known to have been native to the African continent, alongside the Barbary stag, a su ...

''). However, these claims cannot be substantiated, and the latest fossils of this species are dated to between 100 and 37 ka (100,000 - 37,000 years).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108044200 Prehistoric bovids Pleistocene even-toed ungulates Pleistocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric mammals of Africa Pleistocene extinctions